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DfE demands £3bn in savings as financial pressures mount

As the new year begins, there is little sign of respite from the huge financial pressures facing schools across England, with the government demanding heads find £3 billion of savings by 2019/20.

Meanwhile, plans for a fairer National Funding Formula (NFF) to be introduced in 2018/19 are progressing, but with no new money promised by ministers, thousands of schools will lose out under current proposals - many in inner city areas.

The DfE has pledged transitional arrangements to help schools cope with reductions in funding. It also proposes a floor that "will limit the overall reduction to any individual school's budget as a result of the introduction of this NFF to three per cent per-pupil".

The Minimum Funding Guarantee of -1.5 per cent per-pupil year-on-year will also continue, it says.

School leaders have called the funding shake up "vital" given the flaws in the current system. However, they warn that the real problem is with the overall levels of funding, which they say are "not sufficient".